The 2022 World Champion won Race 1 in front of Yamaha duo Razgatlioglu and Locatelli, Rea ninth>. Alvaro Bautista took his fourth win of 2023 after his Phillip Island hat-trick, finishing 4.809s ahead of Razgatlioglu. He now has a 37 point-advantage in the Championship standings.
P1 | | Alvaro Bautista | Aruba.it Racing Team
"The race wasn’t easy because we had to compromise the performance and the management of the tyre life as we had many issues during practices. I was able to make a good start and recover some positions. I was behind Toprak in the first few laps trying to not overstress the front tyre. Then, I saw we were a big group, and I thought the pace could be a bit faster to reduce the number of riders in the group. I tried to pass Toprak and put my pace. I got a good feeling with bike, and I enjoyed the race. I’m happy because last year I struggled a lot here and this year we are so competitive. We made big improvements.”
P5 | | Danilo Petrucci | Barni Spark Racing Team
“I didn’t expect to be so strong in the race. Friday was a tough day; it is such a difficult track with just one line. You pay quite a lot for a small mistake. This morning, we made some adjustments, and everything was in the right direction. I had a good start. I was quite scared about the tyre wear, so I was a bit too conservative at the beginning and I had too many people pass me. In the end, I found my rhythm. I had a good battle with Jonny, and it was a pleasure and a pride for me to fight with a I don’t know how many times World Champion… too many times World Champion! I tried to follow Bassani, but I had too few laps and I was suffering a lot in the heat.”
WorldSBK Race 1 Report
Race 1 in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship during the Motul Indonesian Round was a dramatic affair at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit as Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) made it four wins in a row in the 2023 season after a fighting victory in Indonesia. Bautista went head-to-head with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) in the early stages of the race at a circuit where Razgatlioglu has been so successful at since it joined the calendar in 2021.
Bautista was initially behind Toprak Razgatlioglu in the opening five laps of the race as the pair led the first group. The reigning Champion applied pressure to Razgatlioglu in the early stages but did make his move until Lap 5 as he caught Razgatlioglu by surprise through Turn 15 to move into the lead of the race.
Bautista’s fourth win in the 2023 season means he is now on a winning run of six races that stretches back to Phillip Island in 2022, while he also claimed his and Ducati’s first victory at Mandalika. Ducati are also edging closer to a milestone win as the Italian manufacturer now have 396 wins in WorldSBK.
Razgatlioglu was able to pull away from Bassani to claim second place behind Bautista. Razgatlioglu took his 85th podium. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) was able to make the move on Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) on Lap 11 at Turn 10 to move into third place for his second podium of the 2023 season. Locatelli’s third place means he remains second in the Championship standings behind Bautista.
With Bassani dropping back from the podium fight, he ended up battling with Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) for fourth spot with the pair exchanging positions on several occasions. Lowes passed Bassani at Turn 12 on Lap 12 before Bassani responded at Turn 16 to re-gain fourth place and, after that, Lowes found himself dropping down the order. He was overtaken by Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) around halfway through the race with the rookie taking his best WorldSBK finish to date with fifth. Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) charged through the field in the closing stages of the race to take sixth spot in Race 1, including some incredible fights with his rivals.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was the first retirement of the race after he was involved in a Turn 1 crash on the opening lap, after a collision with Bassani. Rinaldi retired from the race but Bassani was able to continue. Rinaldi went to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash. He will be reassessed ahead of Warm Up on Sunday morning after being diagnosed with a minimal head injury but no signs of concussion have been detected currently.
WorldSBK action resumes on Sunday from 8:30 (Local Time) with the Warm-Up, followed by Tissot Superpole Race at 10:30 and Race 2 at 13:30.
WorldSBK Race 1 Results
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +4.809s
3. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +6.586s
4. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) +8.871s
5. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) +11.667s
6. Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +12.685s
WorldSBK Championship standings
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 87 points
2. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 50 points
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 43 points
WorldSBK Tissot Superpole Results
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu / Yamaha / 1’32.037s
2. Andrea Locatelli / Yamaha / +0.069s
3. Alvaro Bautista / Ducati / +0.165s
Oncu secures maiden WorldSSP win in Indonesia
Starting from the front row, Can Oncu claimed a dominant first Supersport victory by more than three seconds in Race 1 at Mandalika.
P1 | Can Oncu| Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
“I’m so happy. Phillip Island was very difficult. We came here and yesterday we didn’t have a good pace and we said ‘let’s just go for it’, and today we did it. It’s incredible. I want to thanks Kenan, he called me yesterday and told me ‘Can, you have to do it!’. I finally have my first win with Kawasaki, I’m so happy.
To be honest, in the first lap I managed a one second gap. I just wanted to try to stay constant and do make mistake. I wasn’t on the limit, I was under my pace, because I didn’t want to finish the tyre as I always do. I was so comfortable with my bike. My dream was to win a race and I achieve it today. I’m even more motivated. We have to keep working hard and try to get more good results.”
WorldSSP Race 1 Report
It was a dramatic Race 1 in the FIM Supersport World Championship at Mandalika as Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) blasted off from the start to claim his first WorldSSP win during the Motul Indonesian Round. Oncu started from the front row and, with drops of rain falling at the start of the race, moved clear to win by more than three seconds for his first win at the 65th time of asking. Rain started falling before the start of the race, but all riders opted to stay with slick tyres, with the rain not getting harder during the 18-lap race.
At the start of the race, Oncu took the lead on the opening lap after starting from third place and from there he did not look back. The Turkish star, now in his fourth WorldSSP campaign, was able to use a combination of his pace and his rivals battling behind him to take victory by more than three seconds for his first WorldSSP win.
The battle behind Oncu was an incredible fight between Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) and Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) with the pair consistently changing positions. Caricasulo was able to resist Tuuli’s pressure throughout the closing stages of the race before pulling a gap over the Finnish rider to take his 28th WorldSSP podium, while Tuuli took his tenth podium in the Championship, his first one with Triumph.
The battle for fourth was just as fierce as the battle for second between Raffaele De Rose (Orelac Racing VerdNatura), Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) as three manufacturers battled hard. The battle ended when Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team), who closed the gap as the riders in front battled hard, collided with van Straalen at Turn 16 with the Dutchman going down before re-joining. It meant Schroetter took fourth spot at the end of the race ahead of Bulega in fifth, while De Rosa had been running in fifth before a puncture dropped him down the order before he retired from the race.
WorldSSP Race 1 Results
1. Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing)
2. Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) +3.305s
3. Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) +4.172s
4. Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +7.813s
5. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) +11.558s
6. Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) +20.218s
WorldSSP Championship standings
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) 61 points
2. Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) 41 points
3. Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) 39 points
DORNA World SBK